In the run-up to the Carlsen-Caruana World Championship match set for London in November, I will be previewing their prospects. The match pits Magnus Carlsen from Norway, the highest-rated player in the history of chess and world champion since 2014, against the top-ranked American grandmaster, Fabiano Caruana. Their chessboard styles could not be more different. Like his great predecessors Lasker and Karpov, Carlsen favours wars of attrition. Caruana plays more aggressively, openly and fluently, clearly influenced by Bobby Fischer. Who will win? My heart prefers Caruana, but my head says Carlsen, probably by the points score of 6½ to 4½. Essential reading for students of the match will be Caruana: Move by Move by Cyrus Lakdawala (Everyman Chess), from which the following game is taken.
Anand-Caruana: Tal Memorial, Moscow 2013; Ruy Lopez
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 0-0 8 h3 Bb7 9 d3 d5 Caruana plays in Marshall Gambit fashion anyway. 10 exd5 Nxd5 11 Nbd2 Anand plays it super-safe and refuses the pawn grab on e5. The critical line runs 11 Nxe5 Nd4! 12 Nd2 c5 13 c3 Nxb3 14 Nxb3 Qc7, when Black’s bishop pair offer decent compensation for the missing pawn, V. Gashimov-E. Tomashevsky, Fidé World Cup, Khanty-Mansiysk 2011. 11 … f6 12 c3 Kh8 13 Bc2 Qd7 14 Nb3 Anand plays for a d3-d4 break. He has played too cautiously to claim an opening edge. 14 … a5 15 a4 bxa4 16 Rxa4 Ncb4 (see diagram 1) Caruana sacrifices a pawn to pick up the bishop pair in an open position. 17 Rxa5 Nxc2 18 Qxc2 Nb6 19 Rxa8 Rxa8 20 Nbd2 g5 Caruana commits himself to a risky pawn push to enhance his kingside attack, yet this is not a move choice distorted by an overly optimistic assessment.
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